Sole survivor in deadly wrong-way crash remains unconscious

By Brian Rogers |
July 10, 2014
| Updated: July 10, 2014 9:11pm

Efraim Carmona, 34, has been charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter in a crash that killed 5 people.

A girl critically injured in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver likely will be paralyzed from the neck down if she survives, prosecutors said Thursday.

The girl, thought to be 11, was the only person to survive the fiery wreck that killed five of her family members on June 29.

"It's touch-and-go," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Allison Baimbridge said in court. She said the girl remains unconscious with bleeding around her brain stem, which could be fatal.

Efraim Carmona, 34, has been charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and one charge of intoxication assault, accused of drunkenly driving a 2009 Dodge Ram 5500 pickup the wrong way on the westbound North Sam Houston Parkway near John Ralston.

If convicted of the second-degree felonies, Carmona faces a sentence ranging from two to 20 years in prison. If the punishments are "stacked," he could be sentenced to a maximum of 120 years.

In court Thursday, Carmona's attorney, Gilbert Alvarado, argued that his client's bail should be reduced from $600,000.

State District Judge Susan Brown reduced the bail to $450,000 after hearing that prosecutors fear Carmona could flee to Chicago, where he was born.

Carmona's blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent, or almost three times the legal limit, when he was arrested, investigators said.